Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-02-19
Taking in . sawdust sw,rdler.

"Iho killing OF Tom Davis, the saw.
dust man, in Now York. BY n man from
Texas reminds me Of an experience
ones had with a gang Of this kind"
said . w%eli-known oil region sport, in
tho bar-room Of the Option House, q,
Bradford. PA, Z night or two ago.
''Tell the story" came from . dozen
thrOats.
"Wsll. boys, you all know that l am
somewhat Of 4 sport. So was my dad
before mo. The old man was up t.
all kinds Of sp%eculations. Nothing was
too risky for him. Ii he wasn't in ~
lottery 1t was a horseraco or q ram..
One time ne got one of those eut,clny
circulars, such as Tom Davis sent out
to his dupes. At that time the old man
was flying ia hard luck. He had lost
u century or SO on . horse race, and a
speculation in mining stocks had
turned out d~isastrously. The offer Of
the sawdust chap struck him right fa-
vorably. Tim, ii l oun collar y thous-
and or two Of the queer he said to me.
Il know that l can pass 1t without
trouble in the oil country. I've q great
notion to try it on aud trust to LUCK
ALI right, dad,' said |; Try it on
In = few days he received another let
ter from the sawdust man, appointing
u meeting ut a hotel in Chatham square.
In New York. Il can't raise the wealth.
TO g0,' said the old man to me, 80 /
must got my grip on some OF that boz
gus money I Thought the matter
over, aud concluded that l woull give
tue old nan u lift. took the crooks;
letter. and, with tho assistance of u
young fellow in the newspaper busi-
ness. cooked up q reply whic l oalcu.
lated would each the swindier in NJ
neat q trap as he ave set to catch
sucker. In the letter I told the Sohap
that New Y0rx wis not the place Tor
him To do business in. The oil coun-
Try was then booming, and ! advised
MN to come hcre,' or at least open an
agency. l pictured to him how easy
1t was to SHOVE wagon loads Of the
queer. A mining OF oil town afforded
superior advantages for showing bogus
money. In CONCLUSION. l tod him that
1 mad $l0,@ to invest, but that like
other Oil men, l Was not in the habit
vi buying q pig in a poke.
".Scul ON samples / wrote, .by
mail or express. aud l will examine
the goous. and, if they are as slick as
represented. will take 3d. 600 WORTH
1t was utterly Impossible for me to
meet him in New YORK. II he wanted
to transact business he must either
send samples or come IN himself. In
Il few days y neat express packet was
delivered at the door Of the old mans
house. With trembling hands he tore
0tf the wrapper. revealing . long and
narrow pastsboard uox. Carsfuily hid
den under u lot OF papers was q long
package done up ID oiled silk. In il
were iOur crisp new bills Of the denom-
~inations Of, %. 35. 80 and gu. They
looked like genuine, aud were pro.
nOunced AZ snon by the cashier of the
Bradford National Bank.
"'But am getting anead of my sto-
~. When the package arrived the olu
gentleman sent ior me. He was near
~ wild with excitement.
":Ain't they Deautiesp' he cried, a.
he tenuerly iondled- tue crisp slips OF
paper.
that don't hinder their being counter
1eits.'
That's exactly what they are
said my dad, in triumph. We amt
paying Tor good money, are woP"
II adm tied the force of the logic.
Then | proposed that l take the bills
to y bank Tor examination. IL the
Oanks say they are good I said, 'tlen
we'll have q picnic in passing them
l had an idea that the money was gen.
ulnc, and I wanted to yet my hands
GU it before the old man had u chance
to shove it. 1t nenrly broke dad's
heart to part, even for u little while,
with the beautiful new notes. / hust-
led to the Oank and asked il the bills
were really good. Certainly replied
the cashier, after q scrutiuizing glance.
'lhey are rs good AS they make. Here
are some counterfcits, aud he produced
q Uunule Of bills. Som /, of them were
brand new. l persuaded him to ,oau
me q crisp go. across tho face Of
which was stamped In red letters,
Counterfeit
"What thenp" queried one Of the
crowd.
why, I showed it to the old man
and said that the bank had taken. all
the money from me and branded it as
bogus. 1t cured dad of his fever for
queer. but he Y really got over the
belief that l had played roots with him.
Somehow he caught on to the idea that
the money sent by the sawdust man
was genuine. but he never had . chanos
to spend it."